Fifth former Monroe prison guard pleads guilty

Friday

Jan 4, 2008 at 12:20 AMJan 4, 2008 at 1:01 AM

STROUDSBURG — A former prison guard pleaded guilty Thursday to giving contraband to a Monroe County Correctional Facility inmate while another former guard wants to withdraw his no-contest plea to having sexual contact with an inmate.

STROUDSBURG — A former prison guard pleaded guilty Thursday to giving contraband to a Monroe County Correctional Facility inmate while another former guard wants to withdraw his no-contest plea to having sexual contact with an inmate.

Frank Bell, 49, of Lehighton, pleaded guilty while Dana Simpson, 35, of Tobyhanna requested to withdraw his plea at Thursday's call of the list of upcoming criminal trials.

Bell and Simpson are two of seven former corrections officers charged with giving contraband (cell phones) to or having sexual contact with inmates in 2006. The judge will decide whether to grant Simpson's request to withdraw his plea. Fellow former prison guards sentenced so far are:

Roodney Ulysse, 35, of Tobyhanna, Karen Stone, 37, of Stroudsburg and Yvonne Lockard, 32, of East Stroudsburg: each to a year's probation on contraband offenses. Mark Gutshall, 39, of Blakeslee: three to 23 months in county jail on sexual misconduct charges.

Fellow former guard Richard Chimalza, 40, of East Stroudsburg, is awaiting trial on sexual misconduct charges. An eighth defendant, former jail kitchen cook Misty Mate, 30, of Albrightsville pleaded guilty in June to a contraband offense and was sentenced to a year's probation and fined $500.

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